Christmas Tradition
by Alaer
Summary: Every year, Natsu would celebrate Christmas week sooner... Every year, he would take a mission few days before the big day... And every year, he would come back after the New Year was over


**Okay umm, this was my second fanfiction, and kinda first gratsu as I didnt get to that pairing yet in my first fic...**

 **While its long as hell, Im aware Im still a newbie so expect grammar mistakes, for which Im really sorry...**

 **My first time participating in gratsu event, and I really hope some people will enjoy this :D**

 **Prompt was gloves, and my deadline was 21.12.2015**

 **Well...here it goes...Enjoy! :D**

* * *

It was a few days before Christmas and Magnolia was beautifully decorated everywhere you could lay your eyes. Trees along the way were shining due to christmas lights on them, some houses were having statues of Santa on their roof with almost rainbow lighting that shone brighter than street lights when you walked through at night. Covered in layers of snow, filled with children's laughter and occasional panicking over last minute shopping for the presents, Magnolia was slowly getting ready for the big event.

One of those panicking people was Lucy Heartfilia, as she was still unable to find her gift which she would give to a certain hot headed dragon slayer that tended to break into her house every now and then. They had a party with everyone at her house last weekend, and while everyone was drunk, she was able to find out who wished for what on Christmas.

Everyone…except Natsu. She felt like she owed him many things, because he was the one who brought her into this insane group of people whom called themselves guild, which she loved from the bottom of her heart.

This way her third day wandering around shops, finding completely nothing that would suit the fire mage's taste, if he even had one. The worst was, she wasn't the only one who needed something in a rush, and so the streets were full of people she barely got through, and if something ever caught her eye, it was gone by the time she got near.

She sighted, hoping that something handmade would satisfy him, as he seemed to treasure memories the most. And maybe, that was the best gift for him.

With her head down that she wasn't able to get anything better, she headed towards Fairy Tail, fighting the masses to even find the right path.

When she finally arrived, she was stunned by the warm feeling that came over her when she opened the large doors, and decided to discard her coat as she was suddenly feeling hot, and gave it to Mira at the bar, who hung it on one of the coat hooks. Now, with only her white top and blue skirt, she finally was able to scan through the guild, seeing all kind of ice ornaments hanging from the walls –the courtesy of Gray probably- and the large tree that stood in middle of the podium Mirajane always used to sing at.

A beautiful tree with glass decorations and christmas chains in silver and gold colors, while lightly tied up in lighting that could blind you if you looked for too long.

Smelling the scent of gingerbread and candy, Lucy smiled gently and went towards the table the team she was part of always sat at.

However she was surprised to see just Erza and Happy sit there without the dumb and dumber duo. Not to mention Natsu and Happy were _never_ apart. Confused, she hesitantly sat at the table and stole a glance at Erza, who was just casually drinking some hot tea and sometimes answered Happy's question he dropped while quietly munching on his fish.

"Where is Gray and Natsu?" she asked carefully, drawing their attention towards herself as they both looked at her as if she grew another three heads.

Then they realized this was Lucy's first Christmas with Fairy Tail, so she didn't know, and Erza decided to have the honor of explaining it to her.

"Natsu went on a solo mission"

"Huuuh? But it's just week before Christmas! Why did he go on such last minute mission? Alone, without Happy even?" Lucy was worried for her best friend, did he not have enough food at his home? He could always crash at her place…did something happen then? Did he need money for some medicine?

Her face must have looked really panicked as both Erza and Happy chuckled while shaking their heads.

"He does it every year, always celebrates with everyone week sooner and then vanishes until the New Year." Erza explained like it was no big deal.

But why did he leave on the time when family was supposed to be together? Didn't Natsu call Fairy Tail his family? Why would he leave then? Why didn't he take at least Happy with him?

Many questions raised in her head, but she supposed she could ask Natsu when he came back.

"And Gray?"

"Oh, he always goes with Natsu" Erza smiled gently, while Happy was holding one of his paws over his mouth to battle with the hysterical laugh that was sure to come soon as his whole tiny body was shaking.

He earned confused stare from Lucy, who just looked at Erza waiting for her to say something explaining _that_ reaction. But seeing as she was almost in the same state as Happy, she stood up and went over to Mirajane in hope for better answer.

Why did they say Natsu went on solo mission when Gray was with him? And since when did those two got so much along?

"Hey Mira!" she called, making the white-haired barman girl look at her with big grin on her face.

"Hi Lucy! How are you today?"

"Fine! But can I ask something?" Lucy leaned her hands on the counter that separated her and Mirajane and looked straight into her eyes, hoping she would take her seriously, unlike Erza and Happy.

"Sure! What troubles your mind?"

"What's so funny about Gray going with Natsu every year away on Christmas mission?" as soon as Lucy finished her sentence, Mirajane started laughing heavily with tears appearing in her eyes. But Lucy patiently waited for her to calm down, because now she was _really_ curious.

"Did I say something funny?" Lucy asked after she saw that Mirajane was finally in calm enough state and started wiping her tears with her hands while wide smile still lingered on her lips.

"No…no…just…" Mirajane coughed, trying to get her raspy voice from all the laugh back in control. "...Gray _doesn't_ go along with Natsu…" now Lucy was completely bewildered, did Erza lie to her? "…he more like _stalks_ Natsu without his knowing." She finished, her smile getting ever wider at the word "stalks".

"Ooh…" Lucy finally understood the reactions, because when she started to imagine Gray stalking Natsu everywhere he goes in the snow, it really _was_ funny. "Why? I though they didn't like each other"

Mirajane just smiled gently at her, grabbing one of the dishes at the counter and started washing it. "No one really knows _why_ , it's something only he knows I suppose. I can't imagine what Natsu would do if he knew, and I'm pretty sure if Gray told anyone in the guild Natsu would know in an instant as gossips spread pretty fast through the guild…" she inspected the dish after few times of drying it with one of her dishtowels. After she decided it was good to go, she put it somewhere away and then looked at Lucy. "…but these two, even though they bicker all the time, care about each other as much as everyone cares about them in the guild, even if they deny it most of the time."

Lucy just nodded while going back to table Erza and Happy sat at with thoughtful expression on her face, as she pondered the reasons Gray could have for stalking Natsu on missions that he took every year instead of celebrating Christmas with Fairy Tail.

And why no one questioned their strange behavior around Christmas if this happened every year?

* * *

Gray wasn't entirely sure _when_ this had become a habit -looking after Natsu when he went on missions too far away or at times he normally shouldn't- but he did it anyway, since the time they were small kids.

This Christmas were no different.

Every year, Natsu would take a mission that involved fighting someone…

Every year, he would finish it in two days…

And every year, after finishing the mission, he went towards one deserted house up on a hill with view over lonely village in mountains far away from Magnolia.

He could never figure out _why_ Natsu did that, but then again, he didn't want to look like he _cared_.

The fact that the guild knew about this little secret of his was embarrassing enough, he didn't need Natsu to rub salt in the wound.

Natsu was always the family type, you could never see him alone. He was either with group of his friends from all kind of guilds all over Fiore, with Happy, or with Lucy at least.

He was never alone…

…except at the time when no one was supposed to be alone, when family should be gathering around the fireplace and eat candies until they had way too much sugar flowing in their blood.

And Gray always questioned himself, why?

Why did Natsu feel the need to be alone at the time when no one should be?

Even though he did this every year, Gray never got his answer for his question, and he was starting to lose hope. Seeing Natsu all alone in lonely cottage wasn't exactly how he envisioned the dragon slayer celebrating Christmas.

He was always cheerful with wide grin on his face while making jokes no one except him and Happy understood. Him transforming into this lonely figure was unimaginable for Gray, and he despised the very idea of it happening.

First time he thought it was just a bad dream, but it repeated every time he saw Natsu out in the snow, and he didn't like it one bit.

The answer to the question "why he didn't like it" was however buried somewhere deep within his mind.

And he wasn't planning on digging it up anytime soon.

And this year again, he hid himself behind a tree as Natsu was going through town to the one who requested to wipe out that dark guild that terrorized them because everyone was crazy about the upcoming event.

Tche…some dark guild they were…it didn't take Natsu to even use one of his powerful spells to burn them into crisp, and he felt proud of his rival for some reason.

He tried to ignore the fact that he grew worried when someone tried to ambush Natsu and froze the floor beneath him so he would fall, hoping Natsu's natural high temperature melted it before he even had the chance to notice.

He had a trouble hiding after that too, since the sound of falling body alerted Natsu to turn sharply around and Gray seriously hoped he wasn't recognized when he ran away with a hood -which was attached to his coat- on.

He was still hidden behind the huge ass tree as Natsu entered the building for a while to get his reward, successfully not destroying anything else except the guild, as it was far away from town and the townsfolk wondered why they had even come such distance to simply steal few goods.

After a few minutes that seemed to Gray like hours as he was staying out in the cold -he was an ice mage, he wasn't fazed by some simple cold, but he had to say outside was fucking _freezing_ this whole month, and even he had troubles to stay "warm" in these circumstances- Natsu finally left the damn house and Gray caught himself checking Natsu's body for any possible scars.

Or that's what he told himself.

Natsu suddenly stopped, feeling someone was drilling a hole at his back and turned around after a while.

Their eyes met for a short split of second, and Gray blushed, unable to look away from Natsu's emerald ones.

Until Gray realized what he was doing and quickly looked away, trying to fit behind the tree as much as he could so not even any piece of his (remaining) clothing would be seen.

Natsu just sighted while thinking _"This again?"_ and walked away, pretending he saw nothing.

Gray let out a relieved exhalation as he heard Natsu walk away, believing he wasn't spotted and therefore had no embarrassing explanation to tell to Natsu.

And they call Natsu the oblivious one.

Year after year Gray followed Natsu to wherever he was going, and so he knew the exact location of the little cottage he was going into right after his mission was fulfilled, and so he decided to give himself a break.

He went into little coffee shop which was across the street and ordered some simple coffee, trying to warm himself up at least a little until he had to go and camp outside Natsu's deserted house up on a hill where the wind was _freaking_ destructive when it came to keeping fire or anything that would frigging be able to keep Gray warm in there.

* * *

It wasn't the first time Gray cursed his stripping habit as he was climbing up the hill, where Natsu was most probably spending his time by lying on a sofa near fireplace and napping in the damn house.

He could have sworn that the wind was on purpose stronger this year than ever before.

And all that because Gray was so smart and threw his coat and shirt off somewhere on the way with the wind carrying it somewhere far away, where he couldn't find it anymore. So, left only with his blue pants and open sandals, Gray was currently trying to get through the deep snow up on the top of the hill.

Unfortunately, the snow was deep enough to reach his knees, and whole lower half of his pants was wet and freezing, making Gray unsure of whether he would be able to withstand it this year, as the cold was already unbearable with his coat and shirt AND dry clothes.

Luckily, the cottage was on a spot that wasn't so high, so trees and bushes still grew there and Gray was able to hide once he saw lights appearing from the distance.

It was already dark out when he finally reached his goal, and as soon as he did he attempted to make a campfire so he wouldn't freeze to death.

But the wind seriously hated him that day, and every time Gray lighted a matchstick, it was quickly blown off, along with the firewood getting wet from the snow underneath it.

"For fuck's sake!" he cursed, running his hands through his hair, getting frustrated and thinking if he shouldn't just call it a day and go back.

But it was already night, and the sky wasn't exactly clear, if he was caught up in storm he may not find a way back.

What options did he have? He didn't know what to do, and the cold was starting to get to him. He kept telling himself he is an ice mage, that he trained naked in snowy plains, but it didn't help him at all.

Unconsciously he started rubbing his shoulders with his hands, to get at least a little warmer, but again, it didn't help at all.

"A-achoo!" he sneezed, looking miserably at the wet firewood and empty box of matchsticks.

What now? He should have packed more things…well he _did_ , but they were in his _coat_ that he _lost_ somewhere along the way.

That's when he heard a rustle of leafs behind him, and he immediately looked towards the noise while standing up fast and getting into his fighting position.

"Wanna come inside, _stalker_?" he heard Natsu ask in gentle and worried voice when he approached Gray from behind the bushes that were right behind the small wooden house.

He blushed at the accusation. "I am not! I just happened to be here! It is not my fault you got a stupid house here!" Gray denied.

Natsu almost wanted to punch him for the lame excuse. Did he not realize he saw him every year with Gray's _awesome_ hiding skills?

Not to mention he had a dragon nose too, and Gray had quite distinctive smell around him.

Yeah well, fuck that.

"So how do you know it's _my_ house, hmm?"

Gray opened his mouth to retort, but found no words for his defense this time, making Natsu sight.

"Just come inside okay? You are shaking from the cold, and _don't_ tell me you aren't feeling cold, cause I saw you trying to light that stupid wet wood! Seriously, even _I_ know that won't lit!" Natsu grabbed one of Gray's hands and dragged him towards the house, and Gray was glad for something warm finally, so glad he might have held Natsu's hand back. He kicked the doors open and after closing them again continued to drag Gray towards the fireplace.

"Sit!" he commanded, and to his surprise Gray didn't resist at all, which made him worried, he ran onto the upper floor to get some clothes for him, as he was basically half naked with wet baggy pants that weren't helping Gray's situation much.

After rummaging through one of his closets -he didn't have here much clothes as he was staying here practically two weeks a year- he finally found something that could be useful and not too small.

Natsu hated to admit it, but he knew Gray was a little higher than him, even if it were just a few centimeters.

When he came back down he saw Gray sitting very close to fireplace with his hands outstretched towards it, probably hoping to get warm soon.

Natsu threw at him his clothes (white baggy pants, because he had no other, with black sweater) and sat beside him.

"Go change, unless you want to stay in wet pants" he suggested, knowing the little bit of a challenge voice that he added to the last part of his sentence will get Gray moving.

Gray nodded and left into one of the backrooms, leaving Natsu alone for a while to think about what he should do now, he always stayed alone in this house, he didn't allow even Happy to come here with him, and yet he invited Gray here, and even thought Gray for sure knew what Natsu was doing every year being the stalker he is -Natsu swore, he could be sometimes worse than Juvia- he wasn't sure if this was okay.

Not to mention, he didn't even have bed here, just futon or maybe two along with the sofa that was located right behind him near the fireplace.

He heard Gray's footsteps getting closer, and that's when he decided this could wait and he could finally ask after years of ignoring it why in the actual hell Gray was following him anyway.

As Gray made his way through the humble room, which contained just sofa in middle standing on colorful red carpet before the fireplace, he glanced at Natsu, and then quickly looked away, seeing Natsu was watching his every step and sat beside him, quietly enjoying the warmth that radiated off of him.

He was confused at first when he saw Natsu reaching for something behind him, but as he felt something warm being wrapped around him, he couldn't help but blush.

Seriously, what was with him? He clenched the blanket now around him tighter.

"So, mind telling me what were you doing here?" Natsu asked.

"I just wanted to take a shortcut to the nearest village as I was on mission, and the village happens to be below this damn hill." He lied.

"Oh, so you got a mission here _every_ damn year? And you didn't have to go through here at all as I saw you in that town which had its _own_ train station leading straight to Magnolia. And don't tell me that the person hiding behind the tree _wasn't_ you, my nose is pretty good ya know"

Gray buried his nose in the blanket, hoping to hide every trace of embarrassment he was feeling at the moment as he was caught up in his stalking.

He mumbled something that even Natsu found incoherent.

"What was that?" he taunted.

By now, Gray had his whole face hidden in the blanket. "I said I was worried about you okay?! Going on a mission every Christmas when we are supposed to be all together!" he lashed out on him, throwing the blanket stubbornly off of his upper half of the body, still not allowing it to get out of his reach as it was crumpled in his lap and staring right into Natsu surprised eyes.

But they were surprised only for split of second, as he started laughing maniacally and had to lie on the floor clutching his stomach as he thought something may burst out of it, while Gray just watched him, completely bewildered.

" _You_ …ahahaha…were _worried_ …haha…about _me_?" Gray felt his cheeks warm up again and looked away, he knew that Natsu would laugh at him.

And for some reason, it stung his heart that he indeed did, but Gray would never admit that.

By the time Natsu finally calmed down from his outburst, he sat again beside Gray and started ruffling his hair, much to Gray's surprise.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized, showing him that toothy grin of his that made Gray unable to be mad at him about it. "…but out of all people I never expected _you_ to be the one worrying, heck I expected Happy, or Lucy…but not _you_ "

That didn't exactly help Gray's pain much, way to go Natsu, make it all better for a while and then sink it even deeper. "Why not me? I care too you know, about people in the guild."

Natsu smiled, and retreated his hand from Gray's raven hair, knowing this was his way of saying _"I care about you"_ even though he couldn't exactly say it on his own yet.

But that was totally fine with Natsu.

"Wait here." Natsu said, leaving Gray alone while he went into the kitchen, wanting to prepare something warm for both of them.

It wasn't often they got to talk like this, without fights, far away from the guild.

It was kind of comforting when they were like this, completely alone, far away from everyone else.

But he wouldn't say that out loud even if hell froze over.

He had plenty of things in the kitchen, as he was prepared to come here every year, and the mission he took paid him quite a lot too so while he was in that town he bought some stuff too.

Once he got so much money he didn't know even what to do with it, and that's where the two futons came from, even though he had already sofa to nap on.

Well whatever, he came back into the room with the fireplace with two hot cups in his hands and handed Gray one of them, who brought it close to his face and smelled it, chuckling moments after.

"What's so funny bastard?"

But Gray just looked at the hot cup in his hand, from which a steam was passing. "Nah, it's just, ya know? Hot tea on Christmas, I was expecting hot cocoa when you came with two cups, not a hot tea." He took a sip. "But this isn't so bad either."

Natsu felt weird when he saw Gray being so content with the tea he made, but shrugged it off. "Someone else got hot cocoa before me, as it was sold out when I came in the shop, so I don't have anything like that here."

They sat in silence next to each other, watching the fireplace with occasional sip from their drinks, until the cups were both empty and Natsu took them to kitchen to wash them up later on.

He came back and this time he lay on the sofa on his back, closing his eyes to relax.

"Hey, Flame-Brain" Gray started with unsure voice, startling Natsu and getting his attention. "Why are you spending Christmas alone every year? You know Fairy Tail is like a big family, so what's the big deal?"

And something that Gray never seen, and never _wanted_ to see happened.

Natsu had a sad expression while facing the ceiling, completely shutting up and probably thinking about something not so happy according to that sad smile.

"It's nothing" he almost whispered, making Gray even more worried, because Natsu was _never_ silent, he was the loud, obnoxious Salamander of Fairy Tail, this wrecked personality didn't suit him at all.

And Gray really hated that expression on his face. He wanted to say something, to convince Natsu that he could _trust_ him, that Gray could _help_ him.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, yawn escaped and Natsu seemingly took it wrong.

"I'm gonna prepare you a place to sleep today, but don't expect any luxury here." He said while standing up and going up the stairs that were located in the left corner of the room, right next to the doors to the kitchen.

"If you wanna shower or something, the bathroom doors are right below the stairs!" Natsu shouted, leaving now Gray alone as he could hear muttering and cursing from above him along with Natsu's loud steps while he tried to find things which could make a place for him to sleep in.

Gray wondered, since when Natsu was so caring about him? He didn't remember occasion they didn't prank each other.

But then again, they were guildmates, and even when Gray and Natsu fought, it was merely to push the other to his limits to get stronger. They had a special bond between them, making them able to be completely synchronized without the need for words, even if they were apart, Gray was sure they would still be able to think like the other and guess where or what would the other do, therefore finding out his location pretty quickly.

It was something only the two of them could do. Even if they were the completely opposites of each other, Gray with cold and introvert personality while Natsu was always cheerful and outgoing.

And to be honest, that's exactly what drew Gray closer to him once he saw the pink haired idiot enter the guild for the first time when they were small children.

He couldn't describe the happy feeling when finally, a boy that had the same interests with him and similar age joined, so far it's been just girls that were either too shy (Levy), too mischievous (Cana) or too violent (Erza and Mirajane).

He didn't count Elfman.

Natsu was his first real friend, he was the one who made Gray more open as before Natsu came Gray was way too cold and distant. Natsu was his light, he was the first person he admired, and…

…and his first crush.

Gray knew he denied that thought every time it came to his mind, but he couldn't ignore the warmth he felt around Natsu, he couldn't hide the happiness he felt every time the fire mage came near him, and he couldn't get rid of the heat in his cheeks when Natsu made him smile.

It was unfair if you ask him, he had a pretty stalker, guild filled with girls that posed in magazines, and his heart just _had_ to fall for the most destructive _male_ mage in the whole guild.

And the cutest one, but Gray was sure Natsu would punch him if he ever said that. And he wasn't exactly surprised, he wanted to punch himself for that thought too.

But why? Why did the cold, sturdy ice had to fall for warm, wild and comforting fire? Gray wanted to drown in that warmth, and that scared him a bit.

He heard Natsu coming down and saw him carrying blankets and pillows.

When Gray looked at him he had that big grin on his face, like if he just won a hard war, which he probably did considering the noise that was coming from above the whole time. Gray felt his face go red again as he got lost in that smile and Natsu's emerald eyes.

Why did it have to be this stupid, dense, oblivious idiot out of all idiots?

Not to mention, Gray felt as if he would try to get closer to that warm fire, he would get burned.

Why did it have to be someone that Gray was sure he wouldn't be able to get?

Then again, Natsu was kind to everyone, so even if he would get burned, he was sure Natsu would heal him again, they would stay close, and they would keep being best friends as they always were.

That's who Natsu was.

"I got all the things for the futon!" he exclaimed happily, waving with the things around his head. "Where do you wanna sleep?"

"Here" Gray replied instantly, but realizing he just said he wanted to sleep in the same room as Natsu he quickly tried to cover his tracks. "I mean, near the fireplace, I still feel a little cold."

Natsu nodded and carefully set the futon up between the sofa and fireplace, while getting more wood for it to make sure Gray wasn't freezing anymore.

"Do you want to take the sofa? I don't want to leave you sleeping on the floor if you feel cold"

Natsu really cared about his friends didn't he? Too bad Gray was too stupid to realize it until this little trip of his, but suddenly he was glad for the stupid wind that made him come here in the first place. He smiled with true bliss, taking Natsu aback, but he recovered fast and threw his vest onto the ground while muttering something.

Gray was able to hear just "stupid Ice Princess" and couldn't help but chuckle when Natsu stubbornly went to lie down on the sofa, facing away from Gray while covering himself with a blanket.

Gray watched him for a while until his breathing got even and then he made himself comfortable within the make-shift futon and falling asleep soon after, surrounded by warmth that reminded him of home.

* * *

Gray woke up when he felt bright light attack his eyes, and his first reaction was to cover them with his palm. He rolled on his side in the comfortable warm bed sheets and proceeded to continue sleeping.

That is, until he realized he wasn't sleeping in his usual camp outside Natsu's house in the cold and jumped straight up to see where the hell he was.

He almost kicked himself when he saw sleeping Natsu on the sofa right next to him, quietly snoring, and remembered the events form yesterday.

He smiled and leaned closer to Natsu's adorable face, seeing him content and completely quiet with that serene look on his face was mesmerizing to Gray, as he was sure this was probably his once in lifetime chance to see it.

He reached out his hand to touch the pink locks that to his astonishment were softer than sakura petals despite their spiky appearance, and he couldn't help himself but mess with them for a while.

But he abruptly stopped when he felt Natsu stir and immediately backed away to his own bed on the floor, pretending he was just waking up as well.

Well, he didn't stretch at all since he was rudely disturbed from his peaceful dream by the damn sunlight, so when he connected his hands and stretched them above his head, it wasn't a complete act.

By the time he was done with him fully waking up, he glanced at Natsu and saw him just rubbing the sleep off of his eyes while yawning, showing his pointy teeth and looking very cute in Gray's eyes.

Stop that brain.

He facepalmed, getting weird stare from Natsu as the slapping sound brought the rest of him from the dreamland, but Gray couldn't bring himself to care as he seriously wanted nothing more than to bang his head against the wall until he stopped thinking dangerously like that.

It wasn't healthy for him.

Well, he might as well start a conversation or he would adore Natsu's features forever and he wasn't entirely sure if he could handle that.

"So, what are you planning to do today, since I'm stuck here with you?"

Natsu tilted his head to the side, probably not being able to process the message immediately as he looked confused for a while before his expression changed like if he just realized something.

"Oh, well, for first! We need more food, I have here enough only for one person, so we gotta go down to the village and buy something for you, and probably get you some clothes as well. Which reminds me, don't you dare to throw these away! I appreciate every piece of clothing I got!"

Gray sweatdropped, wasn't Natsu always in the same outfit anyway? Did he even wash it? Or did he just have his closet filled with the same things?

Well whatever, it was true that he really needed something else, this sweater wasn't exactly his style and he would be more than glad to give it back to its owner.

"Fine, but I suppose you _do_ have enough at least for one simple breakfast now? I'm kinda hungry." He demanded, he didn't really eat much yesterday, last was the lunch he had in that town where Natsu acquired the mission, and that was more than 12 hours ago, which was so far record for him to not eat anything.

He wouldn't say it to anyone, but he knew he could eat as much as Natsu did when he was hungry, but he did have some self-control to not throw half of the food on the floor while stuffing his cheeks with it.

"Sure" Natsu answered after a while with big grin, hearing the loud growl of Gray's stomach and catching the embarrassment on his face. He went into the kitchen and started the gas oven, lighting it with his own fire like he probably did with everything in this place, and Gray was surprised that it didn't burn down yet.

He stayed in his bed, unsure if he should follow Natsu into kitchen, but after a while he just sat on the sofa Natsu was lying on few seconds ago (the warmth that radiated off of the couch was a proof of that) and turned himself towards the kitchen doorway, missing the doors though, so he had a perfect view on everything Natsu was doing.

However, he was amazed with how much of skill Natsu cracked the eggs and put them onto frying pan along with some bacon he got from the fridge that was in the corner of the room.

Just the sight of the fridge in the cold weather made Gray flinch as he remembered certain things from the past and vowed to himself he would never touch it in winter.

Never mind, back to the main subject, Gray didn't know Natsu could cook, and it was stunning sight indeed to see him all happy go lucky about it, looking as if he was thoroughly in his own element, and the amazing scent coming from the kitchen successfully made Gray's mouth watery and his stomach growl once more as it realized food was near.

He internally smiled, joyful that he was able to find out something about Natsu that he bet no one else knew.

"Hey, Stripper! You should come and eat or there's not gonna be anything left!"

Oh, Gray was pretty sure that with Natsu being busy with trying to not burn anything, there was plenty of food for him left, but he anyway ran to the kitchen, jumping across the sofa, and sat on one of the chairs that had on its side of a table prepared plate.

Both of them were surprised on how smooth the breakfast went, as they practically ate in peace while talking with each other happily, sometimes saying jokes that made them both laugh.

Gray had to quickly reach for glass of water once, as Natsu started choking on his own food while laughing on Gray's story how he used to blame his teacher in middle of the street for his stripping habit, who wasn't at all happy that everyone turned to look at them and started whispering gossips.

All in all, even with the occasional stupid nicknames and bickering, they didn't start a food war, though they had a stare competition over the last piece of bacon, which resulted in Gray's victory as he successfully distracted Natsu when he said he left the pan on the open fire at the oven, and he speedily stole the bacon while laughing at Natsu's face when he realized that Gray lied to him.

This was certainly one of the best Gray's Christmas ever, and there were still few days before the big day.

He couldn't be more excited about what was to come next.

* * *

It was time for the shopping, and Gray grumbled as he had to go in the stupid sweater outside to the damn freezing cold.

The fact that Natsu had also just open sandals as boots didn't help either too much, but the fire mage didn't really care as when they finally left, the snow around him started melting, opening the path for them to go safely into village.

For once, Gray was glad for his stupid way to do things.

Well, that is, until Natsu got all mischievous and with disabling his magic to stop melting the snow around him (or at least not so fast anymore) he caught Gray's arm, took two pieces of tree barks that were lying near, put them under himself and Gray and started sliding down the hill, dragging Gray with him.

The ice mage wasn't at all happy about this, while Natsu could just dry his clothes in matter of seconds, he had to stay in the wet ones.

But then again, hearing that stupid laugh of his, Gray laughed too, he was getting new clothes soon anyway, and he could just make Natsu go in that shop first, reminding him this stupid idea. Not to mention it was the fastest way to get down, and seeing how Natsu was dodging all the trees carefully with him, Gray smirked and let go of Natsu, matching his speed next to him, and looking at him as their eyes met, they both saw the silent challenge in each other's eyes, and thus, the race between them began.

All was fun and happy times, until Gray got to the lead, and while glancing at Natsu to show him his triumphal smirk, he got caught up on something, falling of the bark with Natsu crashing into him soon after and they both started rolling off of the hill while catching snow on them, merging into one big snowball that kept getting bigger and bigger, ignoring the protests of both mages buried deep within it.

They were spinning along with the enormous snowball, and Natsu started feeling his motion sickness as it was messing with his head, rolling and rolling uncontrollably, and he was glad when it finally started to slow down, signaling they were at the end of the hill, and crashed soon after.

While the impact made Natsu's head hurt all the more, he couldn't be happier to get out of the damn _vehicle_ as it fell apart upon the impact with one of the trees, leaving him and the other idiot with headaches, leaning on the huge tree that surprisingly withstanded it all.

They looked at each other, still quite in dazed state, but after a while they both started laughing maniacally, and none of them cared that they were all wet and their clothes messy, Natsu's vest a little torn at the side.

Because really, what's better than having fun with your best friend in the snow?

They used the tree to help them stand up when they calmed down, and while staggering for a while they managed to walk straight after few moments, seeing the village lights in the distance that was maybe half a kilometer away.

Who cared if it was snowing?

Who cared if they were wet and their clothes heavy thanks to that?

Who cared that it was freaking _hard_ to run in the snow?

They obviously didn't, as they resumed their race from before as they were running straight towards the few houses they saw slowly getting closer and closer.

They must have looked like little children playing as people around them when they finally ran past the village gates threw them curious looks or simply shook their heads on their childish antics. But again, who cared?

They were out of breath once they spotted a shop with clothes that had in the shop window what both of them reminded what Gray was normally wearing, if he didn't strip that is.

"Ha…I…totally…won that" announced Natsu, gasping for breath, winning with luck on his side.

"That…wasn't…fair…at all!" Gray protested, Natsu won just because Gray didn't pay attention where he was running and slipped on almost invisible layer of ice amidst the snow, falling face to ground, letting Natsu take the lead with no effort at all.

He swore Natsu knew about that ice, or just somehow made Gray distracted enough to step on it unconsciously.

Natsu had to cheat, there was no other way Gray would have lost it, that's what he convinced himself of.

That aside, they started attracting way too much attention and decided to hide in the clothes shop, hoping to find what Gray needed on first try as neither of them wanted to spend their time in filled shops as it was nearing Christmas Eve.

* * *

It took them like half a day to finally start heading back, as Gray was way too picky about the coat he wanted, and Natsu didn't want a cheap food. With the constant queues and masses of people all around them it took few hours just to be finished with one damn shop, and they tried many of these.

Thank god Natsu didn't care about manners at all and just simply pushed through the waves of townspeople, shortening their waiting or just simply stealing things Gray wanted to try out from someone else's shopping cart.

And Gray had to confess, he was amused by that irritation on Natsu's face as he was the source of it. The way back passed for both of them quickly, arguing the whole way over _who_ made them come so late in the first place.

Once they got inside the house, Gray was allowed to start doing his stripping habit, while Natsu just took the old clothes back and threw them on top of the stone that was above fireplace, hoping to dry them out later, then he proceeded to put the things they bought to their rightful places with Gray constantly watching him comfortably from the sofa, wondering again just why Natsu didn't spend Christmas with them, it would have been so much fun if he did.

Well, he would ask him that later, he had plenty of time after all, right now he wanted to assure that he would never be alone on such time again.

His brain did not ask why he wanted to promise such thing, because it knew that if it did, Gray's heart would give it an answer it wasn't ready yet to face.

As Natsu started walking back, lighting up the fireplace again with his own fire and some old wood that was stacked right next to it, Gray decided to assure his previous thoughts.

"Hey, Natsu?" he started hesitantly, aware that he called him by his name, which surprised Natsu a bit as they did so mostly (or only) when they were in some kind of serious fight and fought together against someone powerful.

Natsu just looked at him expectantly, nodding his head in a way that told Gray to continue.

And so he did. "Why don't we make this an every year tradition for us?" that was it. The big question was out, and Gray was getting nervous from each millisecond that passed from the time he finished his sentence.

Now that he thought about it, didn't it sound weird? Natsu left even Happy at the guild, he obviously wanted to be alone, why did Gray think that he would want to spend this time with him instead of Happy?

He was prepared to lie to Natsu that he was just joking, denying everything. But found himself unable to move once he heard Natsu's answer.

"Sure, you were stalking me each year anyway!" and there was it again, the big toothy grin only Natsu was capable of.

And probably being the innocent and oblivious mage Natsu was, he didn't think twice about what it meant to Gray, but he was totally fine with that.

At least for the time being.

Now question number two.

"Why do you even spend it alone? I don't mind it being just the two of us, as if whole team came we would probably demolish the place with Erza's taste for games, but why not even Happy? You two are never apart."

And the sad expression returned, and Natsu faced the fireplace, his back turned towards Gray that still sat at the sofa.

But he was having none of that anymore. He pushed himself up and sat beside Natsu, on his futon. They sat in silence for a while, neither of them giving up, until Natsu finally sighted, giving in.

"It was…a long time ago…my first Christmas in the guild after I joined…"

 _The young Natsu excitedly ran straight through the large guild hall door, knocking everyone and everything that was in his way towards the group of his friends that were near the bar while shouting that Christmas are finally here._

 _He didn't know exactly what this big event was, as with Igneel he never celebrated it, but from what he heard from Cana, it was supposed to be a day when all the kids got presents and the whole building was decorated with beautiful things._

 _And it indeed was, icy ornaments hung from the walls with occasional boring plant here and there, under which two people were always blushing for some reason._

 _He shrugged it off, calling them weird, running to meet up his friends._

 _When he finally got to them, they were all gathered around Gray that held something, he pushed through them to see what it is._

 _And he didn't regret it one bit, the thing everyone were staring at was probably Gray_ ' _s doing, as he held a Fairy Tail guildhall from outside made in ice in his hands._

 _Natsu gawked at that, and asked if he could look closer, completely forgetting about one simple, yet drastic thing in these cases._

 _He was a fire mage._

 _As soon as he touched the amazing thing, it started melting down, much to Gray's dismay and others of course weren't at all happy about it either as they looked at him with angry faces._

" _You are ruining the fun! Go elsewhere!" he heard someone shout, and when he looked back at Gray he saw that tears started swelling up in his eyes as the thing he probably spent hours working on was destroyed in matter of seconds._

 _Natsu left them and went to the Christmas tree alone being depressed. He didn't want to melt it, and he sure didn't want to hurt the ice mage_ ' _s feelings._

 _Punch him until he couldn't stand sure, but not feelings. Natsu knew how much that hurt, and he didn't want that kind of pain being inflicted on anyone near him._

 _He sat alone while everyone else were running around preparing what they were supposed to do, and Natsu couldn't help but curl into ball while looking at one lonely simple decoration ball hanging on the tree near the floor._

 _Just like him he thought._

 _It wasn't somewhere where you could see it unless you really tried to, and according to its place it wasn't important at all either. Being on the tree still but out of reach of the beautiful other decorations so it wouldn't ruin the final effect._

 _He sighted, not paying attention that someone began climbing up a ladder leaning up against the tree and trying to put the star on its top._

 _Too bad that it resulted in the tree shaking and releasing few of its needless along with some dust, making Natsu sneeze._

 _Unfortunately, he sneezed a fire, burning the lower part of the tree accidentaly._

 _Now, that was some attention he got after that. The whole guild started looking at him, looking angry._

 _But they had to know it wasn't his fault, right? It_ ' _s not like he intended to do this!_

 _They had to know, right?_

" _Natsu, you are just making more work for us, can you please leave until the Christmas day and not come back until then?"_

" _I-" he tried, he didn't do it on purpose!_

" _What were you thinking?!"_

" _I-" would they just let him finish his sentence?_

" _Go away!" Mirajane told him, earning nods of approval from everyone else, while adults just looked away, pretending they saw and heard nothing, silently agreeing with the kids._

 _Natsu just made more work for them, and they were already in a rush without him._

" _I…"Natsu began weakly, but his voice was failing him as his lips started trembling and he had to do his best to hide what he felt._

 _He felt betrayed that everyone wanted him gone and his chest started to hurt, but he ignored it. Holding back the sobs and tears he wanted to release, he managed to leave the guild without making total idiot of himself._

 _Well, at least in matter of crying in public, as he probably was taken already as idiot by ruining their Christmas._

 _He broke into crying sobs and sniffling once he was outside, and he started running towards his house, hoping that he wouldn't meet anyone he knew, or they would never let him live this down._

 _He at least expected Lisanna or someone from the older guys in the guild to stand up for him, he didn't mean to do anything mean._

 _But, if they didn't want him until the Christmas are over, he could oblige, it's not like he wanted to celebrate Christmas with jerks like them anyway! He would celebrate them all alone, and he was going to have more fun!_

 _They could go to hell for all he cared! He won't be partying with them! If they wanted Natsu to leave them alone, who was he to not grant their wishes?_

 _He stomped the rest of the way to his house and packed few things, going to unknown direction but for sure as hell away from Magnolia._

 _The very next day, people were surprised that Natsu really didn't come, and took it that he was just feeling guilty about the fact, assuring themselves that he would come back on the big day, as he was so excited about it once they told him._

 _But that didn't happen, and everyone stared on the final day with dinner together on the presents under the tree that were for Natsu._

 _No one really had the mood for celebrations and the amazingly looking food, as they all felt guilty this time, wondering if they were maybe too harsh on the small kid._

 _But they still believed he would come back, that maybe he just wasn't feeling well, or forgot the date._

 _But when he didn't come even week after, everyone started to get worried, and each of them celebrated New Year by trying to find Natsu_ ' _s whereabouts._

 _But even with them looking for the pink haired kid whole day they found no trace, as no one saw him, and no one from the guild even knew where he was living._

 _The adults started worrying if something happened to him and went to ask Master for advice, who was very disappointed in their behavior, as they were supposed to be example to the younger generation. But just sighted and left towards the direction he knew as the only one where Natsu was living._

 _This all happened while the kids started to feel even more guilty. It's not like they wanted the dragon slayer to run away. They just wanted to have their fun._

 _Without Natsu. And they realized that's the mistake they did. They didn't consider at all the fire mage_ 's _feelings and that's what probably made him mad in the first place._

 _All of them just sat at the guild until next morning, hoping that Gramps was going to get them good news._

 _And indeed, the next morning he came in with the slightly injured pink haired idiot, but on the questions why he was injured in the first place or why he didn't come back he just answered that he was helping some old lady with her cat and it ended up being a chase in whole village in which he went while waiting for the big day._

 _Calling him stupid, everyone started laughing again, breaking the complete silence that engulfed the guild since this accident happening._

 _But no one noticed that Natsu_ ' _s smile was fake, not even Gramps._

 _And from that time on, every year Natsu vanished week before Christmas and came after New Year celebrations, they found it weird at first, but he told them that he just wanted to help people that were in need and because of the celebrations had no help._

 _They all found it admirable and questioned him no further, believing in the façade he created with his big grin, completely ignoring it was eating him up from the inside._

Gray was stunned when he heard the story. It's not like he didn't remember it, that year Christmas was nightmare for the whole guild with the constant worrying but to think Natsu took it that seriously…

He felt guilty, he was a small kid, overreacting because of some stupid toy he could make again, hurting Natsu's feelings without hesitation, while the other tried his best to not do that.

"I'm sor-" he began to say, but was interrupted by Natsu putting his hands over Gray's mouth, silencing him and shaking his head as if to say "It's okay".

But Gray knew it was not okay once he saw Natsu quietly retreating into the bathroom, hearing the shower being turned on after a while.

And he wondered if Natsu just tried to hide his tears again.

He really didn't think that such event traumatized Natsu enough to never celebrate with them again, being all alone instead. And even thought Natsu refused his apologize, he knew he should somehow make it up to the fire mage.

Then again, their guild was filled with ornaments made from _ice_ , and Gray guessed that even if Natsu had more control over his magic now, he was still afraid to touch anything, or that a simple sneeze would burn down the amazing tree they had each year.

Just like Gray was afraid to touch fridge in winter when he was a kid under Ur's care, since every time he tried to find something in it he accidentaly upon touch froze the whole kitchen, and they had to always call for help so someone could melt it.

They were without a warm food for few days each time it happened, not to mention the kitchen was all wet after finally melting it down, and Gray was forced to clean it up.

He smiled at the memory.

But then he remembered something else that made his eyes widen in hopeful realization.

Ur…she gave him gloves that restrained his magic so he had a way to get to some sweets from the cursed fridge without asking anyone to get them for him.

That was it! He still kept them as a memory of her in his house, he could lend them to Natsu and show him he could go to the guild again, celebrating along with his family!

Well, at least once, it's not like he believed Natsu would ruin the gloves by simply wearing them, but his heart still selfishly wished for some occasions that they spent the time alone in this cottage here, celebrating Christmas together.

He blushed at the thought and shook his head until such things got out of his mind.

"Whatcha doing?" Gray almost leaped out of the window once he heard that voice behind him, noticing the weird look Natsu gave him.

 _Half naked_ Natsu, having just a _towel_ wrapped around his waist, giving Gray quite astonishing view on his whole body.

Gray looked away as soon as he could. "N-Nothing!" he stuttered, cursing himself for that. He grabbed few things near him and started running towards the bathroom himself "You were in there just for too long, so now it's _finally_ my turn!" he shouted while slamming the bathroom door behind him, leaving bewildered Natsu alone in the cozy room.

Gray wasn't exactly sure what Natsu thought about his sudden retreat, but he hoped he would just shrug it off being the oblivious idiot he is and go sleep.

And that's exactly what he saw when he came back from the bathroom, Natsu asleep.

But, there was one thing off.

One little, simple thing, that wouldn't mean anything to anyone expect Gray.

The fact that he was sleeping on _Gray_ ' _s_ futon. Daring to look content and all, snuggling the pillow in his sleep, making Gray blush yet again.

Gray could have sworn he was being so adorable on purpose.

This time, Gray wasn't afraid to bang his head against the nearest wall, but he did so quietly, so he wouldn't wake the little matchstick up.

He considered his options.

He could either take the sofa, which sounded as the most reasonable one.

Or he could bring Natsu to the sofa and lie on his comfortable and probably warmed up by Natsu futon.

 _Or_ he could take his chance and lie beside Natsu, seeing he was heavy sleeper this morning Gray was pretty sure he would wake up first and wouldn't create awkward setting between them.

Despite the first being the most reasonable one, he still went to lie beside Natsu, stealing the blanket carefully from under him and wrapping it around both of them.

He didn't really think this through, did he? Currently, he _was_ lying next to Natsu, but what should he do? Should he wrap one of his arms around him, simply stare at his back, or just face the other side?

Too. Many. Damn. Questions!

After a while of his brain arguing with his heart he wrapped his arm around Natsu in defiance, bringing him closer to him so he could feel his warmth.

He was convinced he could say that he just felt cold if anyone ever asked.

And so he let himself be lulled to sleep by Natsu's warmth.

* * *

The very next morning Gray indeed woke again first and enjoyed seeing Natsu's sleepy face for the second time.

However, ignoring that fact, he was excited about the surprise he thought up for Natsu and once he made sure it looked like he slept on the sofa, he shook vigorously with Natsu's body, hurrying him to wake up.

"Oi! Firefreak! Time to wake up!" he yelled, smiling the entire time as he saw Natsu's grumpy face when he started to wake up.

He wasn't a morning person and being shaken so wildly and suddenly from his dreams wasn't exactly on his list of things to do.

He tried to fight it by pushing Gray blindly with his eyes still closed, but the only thing it did was to wake him up even more.

It didn't take long until it changed into wrestling fight over who stays on the futon.

Gray somehow won this one, having Natsu under him while he held his wrists above his head securely. Gray smirked, but the amazing victory feeling didn't last long and was replaced with embarrassment as he realized the position they were in.

Not to mention Natsu was pouting…quite cutely at that.

Where was the nearest wall again?

"So, why did you wake me up so soon? It's just…" Natsu interrupted the silence between them as Gray was lost in his own world of imagining himself banging his head against the wall, but he snapped out of it once he heard Natsu's voice.

"Uh…" was all the ice mage managed to say as he saw the dragon slayer turn his head towards the window.

"Holy shit! The sun just started _rising_ and you _woke_ me up?! What for?!" he shook Gray off of himself angrily, as the position was getting on his nerves too, thought in different way as our Natsu was way too innocent to imagine what Gray was thinking.

Yea, Gray _could_ have gone a _little_ overexcited about the surprise and _may have_ been awake half the night counting the minutes until sun started rising so he would finally have a reason to wake the other up.

But that's a detail, right?

What mattered the most now was that he had a way how to make Natsu happy about Christmas again, and that's what counted.

He grabbed Natsu's arm and excitedly jumped from the bed, ignoring the fire mage's protests, and ran straight out of the door, dragging Natsu behind him, not caring they were in the clothes they just woke up, or that they had bed hair, or that they were barefooted.

Okay, the last thing kinda got through his mind, and he allowed Natsu to go back for their boots and to actually lock the cottage, but he told him to hurry because even if Natsu managed to melt the snow around them, the ground was still cold and Gray wanted nothing more than his shoes back at the moment.

After few teases from Natsu about how he got _way too_ excited he finally managed to calm down and walk like a normal person, with few occasional blushes of course.

Thought in his mind he was imagining Natsu's reaction all the time.

* * *

When they got near the ice mage's house, Gray couldn't take it anymore, his patience completely running out as he started running again, barging through the doors and running straight up the stairs, followed reluctantly by Natsu who was still confused about Gray's happy mood.

Once he got upstairs he saw Gray trashing around the whole place, apparently looking for something, releasing a few growls and irritated sounds time to time.

"I got it!" he shouted suddenly, startling Natsu, whom jumped a few feet into the air, but with Gray being in his own world again no one seemed to notice it.

Then, Gray looked at him with eyes filled with hope, and despite Natsu still not having a slightest clue about what was happening, he couldn't help but smile, not remembering the raven haired mage being in such state ever before.

How rare.

"Here!" he said as he came closer and handled Natsu pair of gloves, looking as if he achieved to win against very strong opponent all by himself in some fight without injures at all.

Natsu found it adorable that he could get worked up over such little thing, as Gray was always the calm one in their group, and Natsu was sure he was the first one (well, if you probably don't count Lyon) who saw that.

But, why did he handled him a pair of gloves was beyond him, Natsu was a fire mage, a dragon slayer, he didn't get _cold_ unless his magic ran out, what was the other thinking?

However, seeing the other's irresistible stare, he sighted and gave in, putting the gloves on his hands.

That's…when he started feeling strange. Suddenly the cold air around him was getting to him through his clothes and he felt like if something was missing.

" _What did Gray do?"_ he questioned himself.

Then, with happy grin of his own, though it looked rather strange on the always calm mage, Gray extended his hands towards Natsu, holding little version from ice of their current guildhall, as he couldn't exactly remember how it was before, with all details and so on.

Natsu immediately backed away by instinct.

"Don't worry, it's gonna be fine" Gray reassured him, and reached out the small thing towards Natsu again.

Convincing himself that by now Gray was old enough to not cry over stupid thing he could make in matter of seconds, he took it into his hands, expecting it to start melting as soon as he touched it.

Only…it didn't.

And Natsu gawked at that, then looked over to Gray who had triumphant smirk all over his face.

"H-how?" was all Natsu seemed to be able to get out from himself.

"Magic-restraining gloves! Given to me by Ur when I had similar problem to yours!" he announced proudly.

Natsu was touched that Gray would lend him something from his ex-teacher, as he knew that person was very important to him.

 _But…_

And Gray didn't miss that sad smile creeping its way to Natsu's face again.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

As much as he was glad that Gray tried to help, it only reminded him his situation couldn't be helped.

Yes, he could hold the item, but… he couldn't _feel_ through the fabric.

And he probably never will.

He will never feel the icy touch of such detailed ice art, he will never be able to enjoy snow as everyone else, complaining after few snowball fights that their hands felt cold, and he could never feel proud that he made a better snowman in their silly competitions.

And that thought brought tears to Natsu's eyes that he this time couldn't hold in.

But, he will wear them proudly, and he looked straight into Gray's eyes, removing the gloves from his hands while handling him the ice Fairy Tail.

"T-thank you…" he croaked, and struggled to keep his voice under control. "...but it doesn't change anything, even if I can touch, I will never feel it." he finished, carefully putting the gloves atop the nice art, and quickly retreated from Gray's house as he started breaking down, the tears and sorrow he managed to hold in since his childhood resurfacing.

And Gray was left alone once again, feeling guilty as this time too, even if he didn't mean to, he was the one who brought Natsu to that state.

He just wanted Natsu to be able to celebrate with them at least once, what was so wrong about that?

Why did his magic have to be so cruel that Natsu couldn't even touch the snow?

They could start removing the icy ornaments and replacing them with new ones, but he guessed that wouldn't stop Natsu from spending his Christmas alone.

What was he supposed to do now?

He didn't know.

* * *

Well, even if he _didn't_ know what the hell he was supposed to do, going back to the guild for advice was _definitely_ a _bad_ idea. Because as soon as he entered the large hall, everyone turned to stare at him and shouted in unison "So, how did it go this year?" making his cheeks warm up.

It's not like he was naïve enough to think that no one knew what he was doing, but getting this kind of reaction was absolutely embarrassing for the once-introvert ice mage.

Not to mention, Natsu was already in town, and while he didn't see any pink hair inside the guild, no one knew if he wouldn't be listening behind door or window or something!

Yes, he realized that Natsu already knew about his stalking, but he didn't have to know everyone knew about it, or he would get teased till no end.

He just turned his head on the side stubbornly and ignored them all, going to sit at their usual place with pink still lingering on his cheeks.

That didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team whom just stared at him, having their heads laid on their hands, obviously curious about what happened.

Gray still ignored them and grabbed the nearest drink and started drinking it, pretending to be busy.

"So Gray…" Lucy started, making the ice mage flinch.

"…would you kindly tell us…" Erza continued.

"…what happened that made you blush while coming in?" Happy finished the question, all of them focusing on the ice mage that still pretended to be busy drinking even if the cup was empty already.

But it's not like he could do that until the end of the day, huh?

And after few minutes indeed, he putted the cup down, his face now red as tomato while looking away, searching for some kind of distraction undoubtedly.

But he found none, as the entire guild seemed to be against him and curious about the conversation.

"N-nothing" he mumbled, completely aware that sounded way too unconvincing to even himself, and suddenly the floor looked _very_ interesting for him.

They all probably already suspected _why_ did he come in flushed, or _why_ did he stalk Natsu every year, but he would be doomed if he ever told them!

He excused himself to go to bathroom, thinking about way to escape, feeling all of their stares at his back, and once he turned around the corner he finally released a breath he didn't know he was holding, but froze when he heard two familiar voices whispering behind the doors to girl's bathroom.

Now, he _wasn't_ eavesdropper, but he couldn't help the curiosity, he was a man after all, and that explained it, right?

"Why don't you just give him something you yourself made, I'm sure Gajeel would appreciate it." Was that…Mirajane? And advising someone about gift for Gajeel?

Wait, does it mean that the other person…

"But, things are just soulless items that disappear over time, I want to give him something that will last in his memory forever, even after I would die…"

Levy…

 _Geez_ …those two were so fucking in love with each other that even a _blind_ person would see it… _seriously_ …confess to each other already dammit!

Then again…he was one to talk…

"You read too many tragedy love stories again didn't you?" he heard a sniffle behind a door, and decided that was his cue for leaving. He went into the boy's bathroom and slipped through the window, which was already opened by some miracle.

Guess he wasn't the only one that wanted to escape this always filled with gossips place.

" _Things are just soulless items that disappear within time, I want to give him something he will remember forever"_ rang in Gray's head over and over again the whole way back to his apartment.

And _finally_ , he got an idea.

* * *

It was already dark when he started to head towards Natsu's house, as it took a lot of courage to do the thing, cause the gloves were the only thing except memories and his magic that he inherited from Ur, but he guessed it was time to move on.

The only thing he did with them was that he kept them on bottom of the chest behind his bed anyway, so what harm could it do?

Well, that thinking didn't stop him from being extremely nervous as he finally stood before Natsu's door, pondering his options about what to do next.

There was a time he wanted to turn back, thinking the dragon slayer might be asleep already, or that Happy was back with him and he would just embarrass himself before the stupid cat that tended to always babble out people's secrets.

Then he remembered he was staying with Lucy, probably gossiping about why Gray came so early, when normally he kept following Natsu until the New Year was over.

Anyhow, he didn't know how long he stayed at the damn doorway, but he guessed it was a long time as the door opened suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts when he saw Natsu wearing a glare while standing _really_ close.

Didn't help Gray much, to hell with his luck this year!

Well whatever, here goes nothing…

"Try it now!" he demanded, shoving the gloves into Natsu's hands, while closing his eyes, blush already adorning his face.

But he was sure he could play it off as being in the cold for too long, since the firefreak's house was way too far away from town.

He heard Natsu sight, probably getting ready to give him those back already, but Gray won't give up this time.

"Just look at them carefully!" he commanded, feeling his face getting all red, but he ignored it this time, looking bravely into Natsu's eyes, having silent battle of convincing with him.

" _Just looking can_ ' _t hurt"_ the pink haired mage thought and inspected the gloves he held.

He was surprised when he saw the fingertips being cut off, looking more like bike gloves than ones for winter, and he glanced questioningly at Gray, who looked all confident suddenly while showing him his hands, moving his fingers right in front of Natsu's face, whom noticed after a while that they were clothed in the cut off parts of the gloves.

Still, the dragon slayer was hesitant, but got the silent message and put the rest of the gloves on his hands, which looked ridiculous according to him.

They were completely white, and totally didn't suit the rest of Natsu's colors, but once he finally wore them, it seemed the effect of them being magic-restraining didn't wear off, even if they were kind of ruined.

"They are yours now" the ice mage exclaimed, making Natsu smile when he thought about how hard must it have been for Gray to give up something that important to him, as he probably wouldn't be able to do the same with the scarf Igneel gave him.

Gray tugged with his hand, indicating for Natsu to come out and try it.

He still didn't believe it would work, but he let himself to be lead to a place a little further from his house, where the snow wasn't melted yet, not forgetting to close the doors behind him of course.

Natsu's house was located in abandoned plain in middle of forest, and so they were hidden from stares of other people that could come across, thought they highly doubted someone would go voluntarily out in this weather.

When they walked for like 5 minutes, Gray finally crouched down, deciding it was far enough, and formed a ball from snow in his hands, giving it to Natsu (whom was still reluctant about this) once he was satisfied with his work.

And much to the fire mage's awe, not only the snowball didn't melt, but he felt the cold stinging on his fingers as they weren't clothed in the gloves, and he couldn't believe he felt so happy just because he could feel cold.

As Natsu was busy with being in his own world, starting to play in the snow and making big snowballs probably for a snowman, touching everything around him, he didn't notice the affectionate look Gray was giving him, making sure he would never forget the sight of the happy beyond anything Flame-Brained idiot.

He looked at his hands with longing, having still the fingertips of the gloves on his fingers, and thought about how would Ur react if she knew what he did.

Would she be disappointed? Would she be proud?

Or would she-

He didn't get to even think straight the last question, as something cold hit his face with full force, and wiping of the snow from his face, he noticed Natsu having his big toothy grin back again, holding a snowball in his hand while standing in fighting position.

Oh, two could play that game, but don't blame Gray if he decided to cheat a little.

He hid behind one of the trees, successfully dodging another snowball that was thrown his way, while he heard Natsu curse that he missed. He smirked, making one snowball of his own and trying to imbue it with his own magic.

Only to feel kinda disappointed when he realized the fingertips were enough to restrain his own magic too.

To hell with this, he ran from his hiding spot, locating hastily where Natsu was standing and throwing his own snowball, hiding behind one of the trees again before he got the chance to see if it hit the target.

He felt proud when he heard the muffled " _Ow"_ from the other side.

And so the snow war began!

It didn't last long however, as Natsu was still not used that his fingers could freeze with the gloves and put them aside a while later so he could warm himself up with his magic, feeling like if he couldn't entirely move his hands properly anymore, and both of them collapsed to the ground beside each other.

They were gasping for air, but still smiling, and Gray finally got the courage to ask something that could change this friendly fights into something else.

"Hey, now that I don't have those anymore, I need to use up all of my energy faster." He started.

Natsu turned his head towards Gray, still lying on the cold ground, while looking confused.

"You mean, we should have fights more often?" he asked innocently, wondering what Gray could have planned.

Leave it to Natsu to always solve everything with fights. Well never mind, this was the moment to express himself, and the raven haired wizard braced himself and prayed he could say what he wanted to say without making completely idiot from himself.

"N-no,…"he stuttered, dammit…that didn't start well! "…I-I meant something different…" he faced the opposite side of where Natsu was laying, his determination leaving him quickly, but he couldn't back out now, he knew. "…l-like a d-date…" he managed to squish out…but then considered how oblivious Natsu was and added "…you and me…" the dices were thrown, and now, at the deciding moment, he wasn't afraid to look into Natsu's eyes that were inspecting him curiously anymore, determined to get his answer.

"Gray…?" here it was coming…Gray knew his nerves were on edge, and he was sure that if Natsu kept him waiting for long he would collapse or lash out, his heart was beating wildly and despite the cold snow all around him he felt incredibly hot.

.

.

"What's a date?"

* * *

 **So...thats it...! :D**

 **I hope it wasnt too long...or too bad...**

 **ANYHOW :D**

 **To the guys who saw this AND read Fairy Heart story...yea...I will get to that...I just had deadline on this and worked on it three days straight with pause to only sleep...so...hehe...will get to updating that story on weekend okay? :D**

 _ **Dont kill me please**_

 **Alaeriii!**


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